Lyle and Erik Menendez have been denied parole. What to know about their case

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lyle Menendez was denied parole Friday, a day after his younger brother Erik received the same recommendation by a California state board.

Their separate hearings this week come nearly 30 years after the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder for the 1989 killings of their parents. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.

But after a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life in May, they immediately became eligible for parole under California law because they were under age 26 when they committed their crimes.

Lyle and Erik Menendez are the sons of Jose and Kitty Menendez. Jose, a Cuban-American business executive who at one time was an executive at RCA Records, moved his family from Princeton, New Jersey, to California when the brothers were teenagers.

On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez dialed 911 to report the shotgun killings of their parents inside their home. Both brothers told investigators that the murders were related to the Mafia or had something to do with their father's business dealings. At the time, Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21.

With access to the family's wealth, the brothers spent small fortunes on Rolex watches, cars and houses. But two months after the killings, Erik Menendez confessed to his psychologist that he and his brother killed their parents.

They were arrested early the following year and charged with first-degree murder. The brothers claimed that their father emotionally and sexually abused them since childhood, but prosecutors contended that getting access to his money was the motive.

The first trial started in 1993. Defense attorneys never disputed that the brothers killed their parents but argued that they acted out of self-defense. Their trials resulted in hung juries.

In 1995 a jury convicted them on three counts including first-degree murder, plus lying in wait and special circumstance allegations. They were sentenced to life without parole in 1996.

For years the brothers filed petitions for appeals from behind bars, but they were denied by state and federal judges.

The brothers have engaged in education while in prison, participated in self-help classes and started various support groups for fellow prisoners.

They also launched a prison beautification project inspired by the Norwegian approach to incarceration that believes rehabilitation in humane prisons surrounded by nature leads to successful reintegration into society, even for people who have committed terrible crimes.

Over the years the Menendez case has continued to fascinate the public, and the brothers became celebrities of sorts. They also were the subjects of true crime shows including last year's nine-episode Netflix crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

A few weeks after that aired, then-LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced that he was reviewing new evidence in the case. On Oct. 24, 2024, prosecutors said they would petition the court to resentence the brothers. And in May 2025, an LA County Superior Court judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole.

The board is tasked with assessing whether the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to society” if released, considering factors like criminal history, motivation for the crime, signs of remorse, behavior while in prison and plans for the future, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Nearly all the Menendez brothers' family members support releasing them. Their uncle Milton Andersen, who opposed it, died from cancer in March.

The brothers both received three-year denials from the California state parole board. They will likely be considered for administrative review within one year and have another hearing as soon as 18 months.

They also still have a pending habeas corpus petition filed in May 2023 seeking a review of their convictions based on new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father.